The Extraordinary Life of Charles Dickens

When Charles Dickens created his character Sam Weller in Pickwick Papers, British and American readers seized upon Dickens's genius and propelled him to immediate fame and fortune. Recognizing success, Dickens drew upon the resources of his life experience, and his complex and passionate character, to create prose and theatricals that continue to delight generations of readers, to expose greed and ignorance, and to champion social reform.

Dickens did not act alone. His unique voice developed and matured as a result of his relationships with friends, professional associates, family members, and the English speaking public. He worked with and among them to achieve his ends. A new exhibition at the Grolier Club, "The Extraordinary Life of Charles Dickens," explores these relationships with publishers, illustrators, writers, aristocrats, and members of his immediate family.

For example, Beadnell family letters and a portrait of Maria Beadnell illuminate the story behind one of Dickens's earliest loves and its wry aftermath. His later love for Ellen Ternan is explored using literary and manuscript material surrounding a performance of the play The Frozen Deep, when Dickens first met the much younger actress who would eventually precipitate the breakup of his marriage to Catherine. Dickens's defense of his own behavior is on view in the first printing of his "Personal Statement" in Household Words.

Portraits of Count D'Orsay and his companion Lady Blessington, founders of a Victorian "society of fashion and taste," serve to highlight Dickens's attraction to high society and dandified appearance. Rare playbills, original letters, and portraits of contemporary actors and stage directors bring to life Dickens's love of showmanship, acting, and the stage.

Also on view is the rare first edition pamphlet, Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Yates, and the Garrick Club which, together with portraits of William Thackeray and Edmund Yates, are used to describe the famous quarrel between Dickens and rival novelist Thackeray. Their eventual reconciliation, brokered in part by the kindness of Dickens's daughter Kate a week before Thackeray's sudden death, is highlighted with an excerpt from the first printing of Dickens's article In Memoriam which appeared in Thackeray's Cornhill Magazine.

"The Extraordinary Life of Charles Dickens" uses over 100 items, drawn from a private and unpublished Dickensian archive, to approach and describe Charles Dickens as a man of fame, complexity, controversy, showmanship, and passion.

An illustrated catalogue (6 x 9 in. 112 pp. 116 duotone illustrations) will accompany the exhibition. Copies will be available at the Grolier Club during the run of the show, or may be ordered from The Veatchs Arts of the Book, P.O. Box 328, Northampton, MA 01061; phone: (413) 584-1867; fax: (413) 584-2751; e-mail: Veatchs@veatchs.com.

Location and Times: "The Extraordinary Life of Charles Dickens" will be on view in the second floor gallery at the Grolier Club from January 26-March 10. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10-5pm. Open to the public free of charge.